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Check out this sweet interactive subway platform ad for the Swedish company Apotek. They built sensors into the ads so that when a train comes by, it blows the hair of the model in the ad! Using technology this way seems to be a new trend in advertising. British Airways and Ikea have done something similar. What a great way to disrupt and engage an audience on the go.

In this book, Seth discusses a variety of interesting ideas and observations about marketing, business and entrepreneurship. Each chapter is basically a 1-2 page thought (I’m pretty sure that this book came about as a collection of blog posts).

Although not written as a typical linear book, there is a common theme weaved throughout: we live in a day of age where those who are innovators have every opportunity to succeed and leave behind larger organizations who are stuck in the status quo. Everyday, ordinary people think of great ideas – whether they be a new way of doing things, a new product or service, or anything – that have the potential to change the way we function in the world. It is up to each of us to recognize great ideas when we see them (or think of them) and have the courage to follow through and act on it.

I would recommend this for anyone who runs a small business or needs a little motivation to get started on an idea.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

Today, little companies often make more money than big companies. Little churches grow faster than worldwide ones. Little jets are way faster (door to door) than big ones.

Small means the founder makes a far greater percentage of the customer interactions. Small means the founder is close to the decisions that matter and can make them, quickly.

Small is the new big because small gives you the flexibility to change the business model when your competition changes theirs.

Small means you can tell the truth on your blog.

Small means that you can answer email from your customers.

Small means that you will outsource the boring, low-impact stuff like manufacturing and shipping and billing and packing to others, while you keep the power because you invent the remarkable and tell stories to people who want to hear them.

A small law firm or accounting firm or ad agency is succeeding because they’re good, not because they’re big. So smart small companies are happy to hire them.

A small restaurant has an owner who greets you by name.

A small venture fund doesn’t have to fund big bad ideas in order to get capital doing work. They can make small investments in tiny companies with good (big) ideas.

A small church has a minister with the time to visit you in the hospital when you’re sick.

Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big.

Don’t wait. Get small. Think big.

Check out Seth’s Blog.

I often go to the grocery store, Harmons, for lunch since it is located near my work. When I went to get my usual California Roll, I was greeted with this sign:

Since many people start off the year with a resolution to lose weight, Harmon’s took advantage of this by offering $1 off for the lower calorie sushi rolls. I think it’s a great, well timed promotion that aligns with many people’s interests.

We hear a lot about the obesity epidemic that it happening right now. Wouldn’t it be great if the food industry priced every food to incentivize you to lose weight? What if restaurants charged a penny for every calorie of your meal? That would make a McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese $7.50 and their Grilled Chicken Sandwich only $3.50. At Wendy’s, it would price the Baconator at $9.40 and their half sized Apple Pecan Chicken Salad at $3.40. At Olive Garden, it would price the Fettuccine Alfredo at $12.20 and the Herb Grilled Salmon at $5.20. At the grocery store, it would price an apple at 55 cents and a regular sized Snickers bar at $2.50.

It’s kind of a radical concept but I think the adjusted prices would change the way people make decisions about their food by incentivizing them to pick lower calorie options. It would also cause food producers to find ways to lower the calorie content for some of their items. If you think about it, you’re already paying a higher price in the long term to eat junk food in the form of medical bills for diabetes, heart disease and a number of medical conditions. Just a thought. In the meantime, it’s good to see places like Harmons incentivizing health, even if its just in a small way.

Papa John’s currently has a deal going where if you buy any large pizza at regular price, you get a second, one topping large pizza for 30 cents. This is strategically timed to happen while leading up to the Super Bowl, of which Papa’s Johns has been designated as the official pizza.

My initial reaction was “why didn’t they just make it a ‘buy one get one free’ promotion?” I think there are a couple reasons. First, it’s their thirtieth anniversary so they were trying to work in the number 30. Second, they don’t mention the price of the first pizza; only the 30 cent pizza. I think it does something psychologically. When something is free, there is a perception that that the quality is cheap (enough for them to just give it away) or there must be a catch. Paying at least something make it seem more legitimate.

I think the 30 cents emphasizes the fact that it’s a good deal. Everyone knows Papa John’s is normally the more expensive pizza but it also has built up a reputation in quality (“Better Ingredients, Better Pizza”). With this promotion, they may be able to attract some of the cheaper customers who would normally go for Little Caesars. The thinking would go: “I will pay roughly the same amount for the two pizzas so why not try Papa Johns?” Then a few weeks later when it’s time for the Super Bowl parties, the people that tried it out for the first time and liked the better quality would re-order, only now at full price.

I think overall it’s a good strategy but hopefully it doesn’t de-value the perception of their product by making it appear “cheap.”

Check out this great spot for the Droid phone featuring Edward Norton:

I like this spot for several reasons: it’s clever, fast paced, funny, well produced, features Edward Norton’s great acting, but most of all, they feature the product and it’s many uses throughout the entire thing plus, the whole “48 hour” theme centers around the Droid’s 48 hour battery life. I think this is everything a commercial should be in this day of age.

I came across this on cheezburger the other day:

The rest of the tweets I’ve seen from them are equally as funny. I think’s it’s awesome when brands put personality and humor into their tweets. It makes them more approachable, showing that there are humans behind these messages.

This month’s book is a modern classic in leadership, Jim Collin’s Good to Great. He assembled a research team and spent several years seeking to answer the question, “what does it take to move an organization from good to great?” He looked at years of stock market history and found eleven company whose performance was fairly flat for a decade and then reached a pivot point where their growth beat the overall market by at least 2.5x for a period of over 15 years. These companies are: Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo (although a few of these companies have since faltered, the principles still stand). He established comparisons companies in each of the industries of the “good to great” companies, conducted thorough interviews and pinpointed what each of these companies had in common that really made them great.

Here are some of the main points:

• Level 5 Leadership – Many companies have effective leaders but to really have sustained performance, the leaders need to display humility. Level 5 Leaders put their ego aside and give credit to their team. In short, they build a company that will survive without them.
• First Who, Then What – Before each company transitioned into greatness, they worked hard to assemble a great team: they got rid of the people holding the company back and got the right, committed people on the bus. After they had a great team, then they figured out where they were going.
• Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lost Faith) – Many of the comparison companies had leaders who were surrounded with “yes men” and didn’t have a strong sense of where they really stood. Great companies had a clear understanding of the market, where they stood, and what they needed to do strategically going forward.
• The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles) – Great companies focused on the overlapping of three area: what they are passionate about, what drives their economic engine, and what they can be the best in the world at. For many of the companies, this meant giving up some opportunities so that they could narrow their focus on other opportunities.
• A Culture of Discipline – Some companies spend a lot of time trying to motivate employees in order to get them to perform. Great companies found employees who were already disciplined, which enables them to have the latitude and freedom to try innovative ideas.
• Technology Accelerators – Great companies don’t relay on technology to succeed; they succeed because of their principles and objectives. Technology is merely a means to help them achieve their goals objectives.
• The Flywheel – Great companies don’t become great overnight; they take years to build momentum. It’s usually not a matter of making a few big changes but rather many small changes that move the ship in the right direction. After they have built momentum, the companies tends to perform organically on their own without having to be strongly forced.

This book is an interesting read for anyone looking to improve their organization or their own personal performance. I highly recommend it.

WestJet’s new Christmas spot is a great example of viral marketing done well. First, they setup a kiosk in one of their terminals where the passengers scan their boarding pass and have a live Santa appear on the screen, asking them by name what they want for Christmas. A fun experience by itself, but WestJet took it a few steps further and actually rushed out to buy all the things each person asked for while they were in flight! This includes some big ticket items like an xbox, android tablet, diamond ring and a big screen TV. Next, to the passengers’ surprise, each present appeared at the baggage claimed, wrapped and with their name on it! WestJet could have done a boring spot talking about how great their service is but by doing this act of over-the-top customer service, they are demonstrating that they really are committed to providing a great experience for their passengers, which is much more powerful. In a period of just 10 days, this spot has received over 30 millions views, which is phenomenal for a 5 minute advertisement. It all ties in perfectly with their ending tagline: “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good flight!”

Yesterday, Apple launched this spot for the iPhone 5s, which depicts a boy attached to his phone and seemingly uninterested in spending Christmas with his family. The twist is that he was actually using his phone to capture all these moments and create a video to show his family. It features Cat Power singing a stripped down rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I think they took a few lessons from the John Lewis 2011 Christmas Spot by telling a story with a surprise twist and using a soft female voice to sing a familiar song; both of which create an emotional atmosphere which tugs at the heartstrings.

In this video for the Mimi Foundation, cancer patients are told to close their eyes while they are given a makeover. When they open their eyes for the reveal, their reaction is recorded as they see how ridiculously awful the makeover was. Take a look:

I have to admit when I first heard about this video, I thought it sounded super mean. A cancer patient seems like the last person you’d want to play a joke on. But ad agency Leo Burnett pulled it off, with a focus on the goal of allowing patients to “forget about their disease, if only for a second.” From the looks of it, everyone involved seemed like a good sport. It think it’s a great twist on all the traditional makeover videos you see out there, which are quickly becoming a cliche. It’s a fun way to promote an organization with a great mission.

Read more about it at Business Insider.